In the News Today

Surprise! Delight!
I yelled into the kitchen to Celine today: “Celine! Plastic bags are banned in the *ENTIRE COUNTRY OF RWANDA*!” It’s true. Since 2007.

Now I’m digging a bit more. Of course there is a TEDxTalk about it. Dr. Rose Mukankomeje, the Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority, spoke at TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch in November 2010. View the talk here.

“Plastic is in our land, plastic is in our bodies…the bodies of our animals. If we want sustainable development, why are we repeating the same mistakes?” – Dr. Mukankomeje.

I thought Celine’s comment after my exclamation was really insightful: “A lot of developing countries don’t have a lot of infrastructure, whereas here we hide behind recycling facilities. They don’t have the capacity to deal with that sh*t.”

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I hold the belief that awareness is the first step towards taking action and creating a shift towards a positive outcome.
Now that I’m doing this plastic-free 2012 project (which is totally ‘built-in’ mentally now), I notice so much more great news about plastic bag bans, ocean clean-up media projects, documentaries, analysis, and best of all: people who are changing how they consume so as to slowly weed out plastic from their lives.

Big thanks to all of you who are now asking for your drinks without straws (and getting metal ones!)
Thanks to you who are using your own mugs over and over instead of the plastic-lined paper hot cups and all plastic cold to go cups.
Thank you for stepping into the realization that we have erred with the ways of plastic consumption.
Thank you for moving towards a better Earth.

If you are just starting a plastic-free or plastic-reduced life, treat yourself to this TEDxTalk from the charming and motivating Wallace “J” Nichols. Rethink Product and Design.

Or for tips from someone who is living plastic free still to this day: Beth Terry. “The average American generates about 100 lbs of plastic waste per year…what I have here I mostly blame on my cats.”
Her “A-Ha” moment is EXACTLY the same as mine: